In a Capitol news conference, SaveCalifornia.com President Randy Thomasson blasted the justices for failing to uphold the will of the people -- in a measure approved by a majority of Californians just five years ago.

“You are seeing tyranny, not democracy,” Thomasson said. “Does the vote of the people matter anymore? Does your vote count when judges strike it down? If your vote doesn’t count, we don’t have a democracy.”

Thomasson was accompanied by members of the Word of Life Church, from North Highlands. They gathered on the west steps of the Capitol on Wednesday, with signs and banners, proclaiming their group’s view that marriage exists only between one man and one woman.

“Sexual behavior is not a civil right,” Thomasson said. “But the U.S. Supreme Court today has refused to deal with that and has done great damage to marriage -- the foundation of family. The Supreme Court of the United States is allowing homosexual marriages as an unnatural model for children.”

The Word of Life congregation is comprised primarily of immigrants from the Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.

Pastor Vitaliy Kostov told KCRA 3 through a Ukrainian translator, ”God has revealed his opinions on the question of homosexual unions, and he calls it a sin.”

Prop 8 defenders had legal help from the Pacific Justice Institute, a religious liberties group based in Sacramento. Their attorneys filed a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court.

Wednesday’s decision, they said, is a blow to California’s initiative process.

“The great concern that we have is that the people will no longer have the ability to go to the ballot box and take action when the governor and attorney general and other elected officials don’t want to do what’s in the best interest of California,” said Matthew McReynolds, an associate counsel with the Pacific Justice Institute.

The group fears that Wednesday’s ruling gives California’s governor and attorney general a de facto veto of any initiative they don’t like, simply by refusing to defend it before the courts.

The Pacific Justice Institute told KCRA 3 the impact of the ruling goes beyond gay marriage – and could affect Prop 13 or any other initiative of import to California voters.

Copyright 2013 by KCRA.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.